The reason I never give up hope is that everything is basically hopeless. Hopelessness underscores everything — the deep sadness and fear at the center of life, the hole in the heart of our families, the animal confusion within us. When you do give up hope, a lot can happen. When it's not pinned wriggling onto a shiny image or expectation, it may float forth and open like those fluted Japanese blossoms, flimsy and spastic, bright and warm. This almost always seems to happen in community: with family, related by blood, or chosen; at church, for me; at peace marches.
— Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith